A Type Advantage
by HalloweenBlitz
Summary: A pokemon story about the son of the fighting type gym leader from the Kanto region, full of original characters and high action battles as the chapters move along. A surprise exists as the story progresses and the young trainer Gray may discover some things that people have forgotten about pokemon and themselves. Rated T for future fights.
1. Chapter 1 - The Summer it happened

His name was Gray Trovel.

The alarm started blaring on Saturday morning and he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. With a yawn he slammed a fist down onto the enemy of every early morning and burrowed under his covers for a few more minutes until the realization of what day it was hit him. Today was the day that his Dad had promised to let him go searching for wild pokemon. A terrific explosion a occurred as the red and white sheets were thrown about the room and the boy fell on the floor in a heap, though it didn't stop him from groping around for his shoes. In mere seconds he was in the middle of something that resembled tying his shoes and brushing his teeth while wearing a backpack that was loaded far too heavily for someone of his age. Just when it looked like he would balance everything out and bolt for the staircase he became entangled in the sheets he had thrown about the room and tumbled out into the hallway.

"Gray?" His mother called once, "Gray! Don't think you're going to run off without finishing your chores, or breakfast! The weekend doesn't mean you're excused from everything young man."

With a groan the soon-to-be trainer freed himself from the trap of sheets and blankets, emerging with victorious energy as he bounded down the staircase. "Dad's waiting for me, got a snack in my bag."

That short announcement came as he bounded through the front door and slammed it behind him. There would be a price to pay later but at the moment Gray was too excited, every fiber in his ten year old body told him that today would be the one where he did more than just look for wild pokemon. He was going to find his partner this time, the one that would start his journey. Only a few more minutes of running would take him from the fenced yard and onto the street, his house was near the northern route heading out of Saffron city; the perfect place to look for a new friend. His sneakers beat the pavement with alarming speed for a boy so young as he vaulted from the path and into the tall grass, normally he would have stayed on the road but he new that his father was sure to be close by.

At the age of ten he was still living with his mom and dad in the Kanto region, Saffron city to be specific. With a head of choppy, black hair and a winning smile the boy found very little that he didn't love in life. While he hadn't yet left on his own pokemon adventure he had plans to go off and become the champion of the region and beyond like any boy his age but for the present he was stuck in Saffron city to wait for the right partner. That was something that his Dad expressed everyday and was probably the reason why his son was not out on the road training yet, catching a pokemon was all too easy just any partner wouldn't do.

Gray's Dad, Vincent Trovel, was a man with high standards that trained everyday with both pokemon and the use of martial arts; it was this expertise that held his place as the fighting gym leader. Even if it was only the secondary gym for the area the martial artist took great pride in running it and raising pokemon in his own, hands-on way despite the strange looks he would get from the neighbors. This morning was another one that would get him a strange look from everyone but his son; the boy burst through the tall grass to find his father clothed in a white Gi and meditating in the center of a meadow.

The sun morning was bright and there was a hint of cheerful intent that rode in the air. Gray's sneakers skidded to a halt just before crashing into his Dad, the added weight of the backpack made him sway on his toes wildly before he fell just short of the martial artist. To look at the two would be like looking in time, Vincent was just an older version of his son with years of agile muscle bolted to his frame and a thick scruff that rivaled any carpet. When the boy fell his father couldn't help but smile and open his eyes the smallest amount.

"I see you're excited." Vincent spoke with a hushed voice.

Gray quickly recovered and answered with fresh enthusiasm. "Of course!"

That yell triggered a shudder that traveled through the grass around them and had it erupting with pidgey and rattata, they scattered in every direction while Gray tried to turn in every direction and see them all at once. A quick slump set into his shoulders when he saw that he had succeeded in scaring everything away with that outburst, or so it seemed to the untrained eye. Even as the young boy unslung his backpack a pair of sharp eyes peered out from the edge of the grass, they narrowed a moment before a furrier evolution of the rattata lunged forth. With fangs presented in a threatening manner the incisors of the raticate became enveloped in an orange energy and he closed the distance to Gray in seconds.

Vincent had been observing the situation carefully in his own way and never thought to panic. While a wild Raticate wasn't common on route five he had more than enough firepower to take out the threat before it touched his son, so without even leaving his meditative pose he pushed his senses out into the earth. While he was no psychic he still had the latent ability to connect with things deeper and older than most through his years of training, he concentrated on one of the pokeballs that he had kept buried near him.

"Cage, I choose you."

While Gray was just noticing the airborne raticate a red light shot out of the ground in between himself and the violent pokemon. In less than a second the rodent was stopped dead in its' tracks by a muscular, blue body. Close in appearance to a human the Machoke was a heavy hitter when it came to dealing with threats, Gray had seen his father sweep entire teams with the blue contender before having named him after a favorite video game character: Jonny Cage.

The pokemon was his father's third strongest but probably the one that understood situations the best when he was called out, when he appeared Cage did not hesitate to stop the Raticate's hyper fang by sticking his wrist to the back of the raticate's mouth. From there the rodent was powerless to close his jaw and deliver the attack properly. The orange energy fizzeled out slowly without so much as a mark to the fighting type and his lizard-like face molded into something like a fierce grin. Even though Cage's height was four feet and five inches, considered short for his species, he was not short of power or intelligence. Before Vincent gave the order he had already focused the energy for his familiar counter.

"Revenge."

With a swift movement the Machoke ripped his forearm out of the Raticate's mouth to leave it dangling in midair while his other hand molded into a fist covered in red energy, not too different from Chi. Cage delivered an uppercut and sent the violent raticate tumbling through the air several yards and into the brush, an untrained opponent normally feinted from just one hit of the fighting pokemon. The blue fighter nodded at his handy work and turned around to catch Gray with a wild smile, others might have feared him but Gray had grown up with his father's pokemon as if they were true extensions of the family. A lot of people thought might have thought that pokemon were limited to the feelings commonly associated with a pet but it was obvious to see that the Machoke was happy to see the child and wasn't the least bit ashamed to show off for him.

"Cage! That was awesome!" Gray immediately gave the Machoke a fist bump, something that he had taught each of his father's pokemon as the acceptable greeting of anyone they met.

Cage put his fists on his hips, posing like a wrestling champion for a moment to bask in the compliment.

Vincent rose from his position and stretched before retrieving the pokeball that Cage had erupted from. The older martial artist repeated the process and dug four more pokeballs out of the ground that had surrounded him at the directions of the compass, an odd practice that he adopted when meditating in wild territory. When the balls were stowed safely in his belt he folded his arms and looked around to make sure that no other threats were in the area, but it was unnecessary as the most dangerous thing now was the reflex game of 'slap' that Gray was trying to play with Cage. Vincent shook his head and smiled at the sight, if the pokemon was serious he would not only be able to catch the boy but would break his hands like dry leaves it was like watching a gentle titan play with the child.

"Well, when you two regain focus we can start." The father announced in a matter-of-fact tone that caught the attention of both pokemon and child.

"I'm ready! I know we'll find something this time." Gray said.

Cage only nodded and growled an affirmative. His bright eyes shone with understanding of the task that occurred every weekend, it wasn't meant to be a training day but an outing to look for something that was compatible with the boy. Perhaps even better than Vincent the Machoke understood the value of the connection between the partnership that trainers and pokemon had, just to settle for any random pokemon as a first to raise would be a waste. The first pokemon was always the most trusted and usually the most powerful that a trainer raised, Cage knew that by looking at the other two pokemon that Vincent trained though he bore nothing but respect for them.

"I think we will, now let's see if we can avoid the raticate while we look for something a bit friendlier."

"What was wrong with him anyways?"

"The raticate?" Vincent led the way through the tall grass while Cage walked beside the small boy like a bodyguard. "I'm not sure, he could have been defending something or he could have just been aggressive, some of the stronger pokemon can get like that when we disturb them."

"Oh..." Gray stayed silent for a few minutes and looked between the muscle bound Machoke and his father. "Is a pokemon like that stronger than others?"

Vincent kept moving, another pidgey fled from the presence of the humans and a Jigglypuff rolled out of the way before it could be given a second thought. They were moving away from the road and into the forest, while the pokemon were occasionally stronger there they were also more diverse and he wanted to find something different for Gray. Anyone could start out with a pidgey or a rattata, even a bellsprout while it was a good pokemon was still too common. It might have been silly or prideful but Vincent felt that there was a special pokemon out there for his son and to let him settle for something else would ruin the friendship he would have with that team that was in his future.

"Not at all. The strongest pokemon are those that have strong hearts. Sometimes that makes them act aggressive to protect something but it's a different kind of aggressive. Like the difference between a martial artist and a bad person on the street. The bad person tries to take what he wants because he is bigger or scarier while an ideal martial artist trains to be stronger to help people around him or to do good in general. Understand?"

While the explanation was in good order with what Vincent wanted to teach the child he knew that nothing like that could hold his attention yet. Gray's head started spinning in every direction again when they entered the woodline and moved out of the sun, the gentle breeze touched the leaves and grass in a way that made everything seem alive. Caterpies were up in the trees and movement could be seen all around as the ten year old took everything in with a gaze that reflected how much the world of pokemon called out to him. Though it did seem that some of the speech had sunken in over the last month because Gray wasn't dashing like mad towards whatever he saw now but watching it while they walked, looking for something that would stand out and shine a little brighter.

"Sure do! I just wish we'd find something soon..."

In truth Gray was more concentrated on a Pigeotto that chased a Meowth out of its' tree but he understood the gist of what was being said. They weren't in the woods to look for just any pokemon, there was one out there that was meant to be his very best friend and that was the one that they needed to find. Quite suddenly Gray stopped short and stared off to his far right, he craned around the Machoke as the speech died on his lips. If he hadn't been out so many times in the last few months then the boy would have reached straight for a pokeball to throw at the flash of movement that he saw but his father had given him enough long talks to relieve him of those ideas.

"Dad..." Gray managed to whisper as his feet rooted to the spot and he pointed at another flicker of yellow movement.

However, Cage and Vincent had already stopped and crouched lower to the ground. A smile tugged at the martial artist's face as he placed the yellow movement, it belonged to a pokemon that was quite rare in that neck of the woods even if it wasn't his favorite type. He looked cautiously at his son and motioned for him to duck down as well while he tried to make the decision to see if they could even get close enough to put a positive ID on the pokemon. Vincent felt that he already knew what it was and the thought of its' typing made his heart sink a little but he was able to push that aside, if it meant that his son's intended pokemon was going to be this one then he had no place to argue.

Gray stayed as quiet and still as he could but it was obvious that he was having a hard time just watching as the edge of a yellow tail kept flitting from tree to tree. He pulled tighter on the straps of his backpack and scooted over to Cage's side, he didn't know enough about pokemon to identify it by just the movement and color but it wasn't something he had seen before. The boy searched the face of the blue fighter as if looking for an answer but he only saw a steady gaze from Cage that depicted concentration. Gray looked at his father and saw the same thing, he quietly wondered if they had found something strong... or aggressive.


	2. Chapter 2 - Race in the woods

With the ten year old on his shoulders the Machoke bolted through the woods.

Gray clung to Cage's neck for dear life but he was filled with more excitement then fear, after the group had spotted a speedy yellow pokemon Vincent had pulled his son close and explained the plan. The pokemon he had were guaranteed to bring down anything they encountered in the wild but catching them was still something that the boy needed to do on his own so Vincent told his son that he would need three pokeballs, the special kind that they had bought two weeks ago. Gray had readily agreed to everything his father said with only a few nods and then he was off on the freight train of blue muscle.

Cage pivoted his sturdy frame and skidded around the tree at speeds that would make any biker jealous, with one hand he steadied the boy on his shoulders and kicked off towards the pokemon they had spotted. It could only be made out as a small shape of yellow and red as it bounded into a thick bush and squeaked sharply but the Machoke was barely a second behind it, his legs dipped in mid-stride and he cleared the bramble with perfect control. His feet slammed down, scattering leave and dirt as the titan paused to scan the area for his quarry. The only thing that met the careful turns of his head was the silence produced by his sudden explosion of speed in the quiet woods, he was easily three times the level of the strongest wild pokemon that lived near Saffron so the woods was giving him his space now.

"Where did he go Cage?"

Gray had followed the careful movements of the fighting type but was no closer to seeing anything than his friend, if the pokemon they were following was this fast then he thought any chance at throwing a pokeball would be based on luck. Or a careful plan. The boy set his hand on one of the empty red and white balls on his belt, he had gone for a month without even finding something worth chasing. Today had to be the day or he felt like he would explode from the suspense of starting, even if he was only a little behind the other kids in Saffron city it

Cage sniffed the air like a giant lizard and his left eye twitched, but it only made Gray wish that he could read the thoughts of the giant. Despite all their incredible powers they still couldn't talk and it prevented pokemon and humans from interacting on some levels, or rather it just forced them to get creative. Just as the boy was about to press the question again the fighting type nearly through him off with a quick spin, the Machoke's fist lit aflame with red energy and it bit into the dirt at the base of the bushes. The result was a spray of earth and shrubbery that took off like a wave tossed in the sea, among those bits of chaos the flash of yellow and red scrambled.

The pokemon jumped up high and cleared Gray's head by about a foot giving him the first good look yet at what he had been chasing. It was something like a fox that stood on two legs, the pointed yellow ears and red chest characterized the pokemon as something that the boy had never seen. For just a moment his hand froze on the pokeball, his eyes met that of the yellow blur and he thought that he could make out a very distinct, playful smile. Whatever the little pokemon was it didn't seem to be at all concerned with the giant of a machoke nor the little trainer that clutched at the device on his belt. That was when Gray snapped out of it and nearly threw _himself_ off Cage's shoulders as he whipped out the capsule and sent it to collide with the target before it could get any solid footing.

"Drat!" Gray shouted as the attempt failed.

The small pokemon vanished just before the ball could touch it, a flash of light and it was gone.

This wasn't a normal pokemon battle, the little target was able to teleport... it was more of a game of tag than anything especially considering that Gray had lost track of the target again. Both of the pursuers came to a halt and made a slow three-sixty, Gray resorted to trying to hear anything out of place and Cage's nostrils flared out as he picked for a scent. Both of them seemed to pick up on something at the same time, a twig snapped and the Machoke moved at blinding speeds as the fighter built up for his confrontation. With a incredible strength the blue titan nailed the nearest tree and sent a visible shudder up to the branches as several of them fell and their target was among the debri.

Pidgey and spearow flew from the toppling branches with squawks and annoyed cries but none of them stopped to interfere. The tiny fox pokemon jumped from branch to branch even as they fell, the small feet of the monster seemed perfect for grasping and rebounding off the smallest of twigs. Though it quickly ran out of footing and fell to the ground only a few yards in front of Gray and Cage, the three looked at eachother for a long moment as if a stalemate had been enacted and as long as no one moved the staring contest could continue.

"Let's go!"

Gray seemed to be the first one to recover, a pokeball snapping into his hand like it was the most natural thing in the world. The boy jumped to stand directly on top of Cage's shoulders and he pitched like a pitcher that was set on winning the ninth inning, the ball buzzed and actually opened as it seemed to make contact before collapsing on the ground. The target had teleported again but it wasn't such a simple thing this time. All at once the woods came alive, here and there... everywhere. The pokemon was either moving very quickly in teleportation or it was capable of leaving illusions because everywhere Gray turned there was a perfect copy of the little fighter he had tried to catch. The boy looked down to his current partner for some sort of solution.

However Cage didn't look back at the boy, his eyes had settled over in some sort of battle haze. The fighting type deepened his stance as their quarry kept teleporting and giving off the appearance of mastered mobility, deep inside his memories the blue contender had fought many opponents on his own level that used the same technique. He stared into the mass of copies, there were many more than the other battles he had seen; for a pokemon so young this wild one had a good deal of ability. A sly grin settled on the Machoke's face and his fists came to rest on his hips, his back straightened and he focused his energy for a few moments.

At that moment every copy that Gray say turned to stare at them with a perplexed look on its' face.

The ground under Cage's feet shifted with an omnious echo, he skirted forward with a sliding motion and tossed everything into a sliding mass of flying rocks. The move wasn't one that he learned naturally or often, but with his abilities it was one that Vincent had sworn by: Rockslide. The copies of the pokemon vanished amidst the rubble and dust filled the air to once again obscure everyone's vision, a pokemon's cry sounded from somewhere in the cloud and Cage bolted forward without hesitation. That was probably the best thing about the pokemon world, the strongest could fight the weakest and everyone was still completely safe.

Vincent had explained it to Gray before he was old enough to even read. Pokemon had some sort of restraint set in place by either choice or nature, no fight would ever result in death among pokemon unlike humans. The mightiest strike from Cage would still only cause a small rattata to faint, likewise even the attack of a legendary pokemon was powerless to do anything but make their opponent take a dirt nap for a while. Only when humans grew careless did injury occur.

Gray clung to the top of the Machoke's head for dear life, never giving a second thought to the vast speed of either pokemon. From seeing the many battles his father had, even before becoming the gym leader in Saffron city, he was used to seeing Cage move like a madman but it wasn't often that someone could evade him for more than a few seconds. The dust blew aside like a bad dream when they barreled through it, however the other pokemon simply stood in the way of a living semi-truck until the last possible second; fully relaxed.

It teleported.

However, it didn't move very far at all. The small fox pokemon only moved to the very top of Cage's head, then it disappeared again like part of some stage show to show up on one of the Machoke's shoulders and then the other just as the larger pokemon tried to reach for him. The action resembled a cat swatting at a laser pointer that he would never touch, as soon as it looked like the fighter was going to lay a hand on the midget of an opponent he would teleport to an obscure location to stand on part of him or between his legs, even a few feet behind him. The fact was that the tiny target never quite moved out of arm's length but it still seemed completely relaxed with an easy expression on its' face.

Gray regarded the sight while trying to keep his own perch and avoid puking from the sudden jerks and spins. There was something very different about the pokemon they were chasing and he finally began to understand it, the species was only part of it. Rare pokemon were interesting and he had heard that they were fun to raise but a common pocket monster could be just as special if it stood out, that was exactly what this short fugitive had chosen to do. The little fox didn't seem angry at all or even offended at being chased, if anything it looked like it was having fun. With nothing short of wonder he watched the target teleport to stand directly on top of Cage's outstretched hand with its' small arms folded, it looked at them both and Gray burst out laughing before it moved away once more.

It was then that the boy came up with a plan of his own.

Gray placed both hands on top of Cage's head and threw himself over, in his own mind he tried to land like a superhero from the comic books he always red but in reality it turned out to be a miracle that he didn't fall directly on his face. He pulled the last pokeball from his belt revealing it to be a _**fastball**_ that bore the decoration of a yellow lightning bolt over the red dome. He had come to realize that no matter how fast his father's pokemon were that they wouldn't be able to keep a hold on their opponent unless they knocked him out cold, and the boy wanted to avoid that if he could. Even if it wasn't permanent hurt he wanted to think that he could catch his first pokemon without making it faint, that he could make friends.

"You're really fast, I think you're the fastest pokemon I've ever seen. We should be friends."

The boy made a motion to throw the ball, feinting so that it stayed in his hand even after he completed the act. Then stepped to the left and called to his partner. His free hand pointed to their immediate left, a spot on the ground that was less than a foot away.

"There Cage!"

The prediction was off, the target had moved on top of the Machoke's left shoulder instead but it gave a hesitant inclination of its' head before it disappeared again. It moved over to the right only to vanish when the fighting type had been baited, it seemed to realize that Cage would not use any powerful moves if he would risk hitting the child.

Gray seemed to pick up on that fact as well, his eyes narrowed and his face looked like a much younger version of his father's back in the field earlier that morning. He realized that even if he was off he had started to see the pattern that the pokemon was using, even if he was teleporting instantly the creature was still bound to hit the location only as fast as its' mind worked. _If only we can force him off balance..._

The boy knew that he only had one shot left, so he needed to make it count. He spun around so that he was face to face with the Machoke and lunged back a few feet, his head shifting to look over his right shoulder as he reached out just in time to have the pokemon appear and vanish only a few inches out of his reach.

"We're close! Don't give him time to react."

With his voice full of excitement he found his hands shaking slightly, he had never tried anything like this before and it was so different from what heard from other trainers. It was strange but it felt right, Gray wondered if this was what his father felt like when he used his training techniques; so different from anyone else but so charged up at the same time. He gave a look to Cage and they both spun in place, the large of the two stirring up a small dust storm with his movements. When the target appeared again he sneezed and looked into the half annoyed and half competitive grin of the Machoke before uttering a quick cry and teleporting again, while the speed advantage of teleportation was still present the agile pokemon had no way of actually knowing how they positioned while he pulled his vanishing act.

It was this that Gray tried to use to his advantage.

"Switch places!"

Immediately both of them jumped back, only just missing the other and landed so that they would face eachother again and the yellow pokemon appeared right between them. Gray lunged forward with an open hand, closer still he got before the pokemon vanished and he carried the movement forward to instead grab onto Cage's huge forearm. His partner seemed to understand instantly and helped the boy to swing all the way up and stand on his broad shoulders just in time for the opponent to appear in the same position. His foot slipped as the pokemon tried to balance on the shoulder opposite of him, both of them flailing their arms and forcing Cage to sway frantically as well with all the movement.

Gray completely slipped off and felt that moment of hangtime that everyone does when they fall, but he wasn't quite out of reach yet. With a final reach he tagged the yellow teleporter with his fastball, and the next thing he knew Gray was looking at the swaying leaves with a dying adrenaline rush. Immediately he jerked up and watched the red and white ball roll back and forth as if it were a tumbleweed in the wind, first one way and then the other while he held his breath. The ball came to an abrupt halt, sparks showering from the electronic lock as it tried to engage it was specially designed for catching pokemon that could run away from fights and move with immense speed.

"Dad! Dad! We got it!"

Gray could not tear his eyes away from the capsule as he waited for the last signs of capture but his father had been close by the entire time, moving with speed that would impress any human and even a few pokemon. Vincent had followed the two and tried to keep himself from breaking out into laughter when the Abra had them tied up with its' antics but the boy had thought up a plan in the heat of things that had paid off. Even if it involved a lot of wasted energy and a few bruises that he would feel later on he could see the light of victory and accomplishment in full strength within his son's eyes. That was the same look he had when he started training back in Hoenn, even when he moved over to Kanto and decided to become the gym leader of the dojo.

Perhaps it was the same look he'd enjoy within the next few days when he called the psychic gym in for a rematch.

A fatherly smirk set in on Vincent's face as the pokeball finally stopped moving and his son bolted for the capsule, though he tripped just within reach of the object. A quick glance told him that Gray had sprained his ankle pretty badly in that fall, having spun in the air like an undignified squirrel when he tried to get that tag in but nevertheless it had paid off and he couldn't help but feel a deep sense of pride in the capture.

"You'll have to find a name for that Abra, it's a psychic type you know."

The typing of the pokemon tasted like ash in his mouth but he wouldn't let his son know that, for now the boy needed to be happy with what he had done. The Abra had been a difficult capture, outrunning Cage's speed easily was no trick considering how young the pokemon looked and the level of ability it had demonstrated was nothing short of peculiar. Vincent only hoped that it showed as much loyalty to his son as it did to the antics of running all over the forest.


End file.
